Category: PLANNING MADE SIMPLE

My sister always makes fun of me when she enters my home – every time she walks through the front door she acts like she’s putting her coat on a non-existent hanger and the coat ends up on the floor. She’s obviously trying to tell me that I need to do something with my hallway/entrance space.

Isn’t it funny how the entrance space is probably always the last on our to-do list when we’re renovating? We don’t know why is that since this is the first room everybody sees when they come into our home. We always thought it is one of the most important room to design and decorate and still my hallway is still unfinished.

I got to say I’m pretty happy with our bathroom and kitchen makeover and even living room that is (almost) done, it just misses a few art pieces and one beautiful bookcase, but the entrance space is giving me a headache. I just cannot make up my mind. Continue reading “Planning an entrance space makeover”→

In our families, they are in charge. Well, they were – up until they got grandkids and they turned into ‘you-can-have-anything-you-want’ grandmas. To be fair, this is not the case all the time, but we all know sometimes it’s easier to give up and just let the kids do what they want.

We learned a lot about interior design thanks to our moms (and chefs too). But, believe it or not, kids can also teach us a little something about interior design. We’ll dare to say, maybe even more than grown-ups.

When it comes to interior design, what kids want is often ignored. We design everything according to our needs, but what about them? Imagine living in a space where everything is just enormous and you constantly find yourself climbing to reach something you want. It’s not how we’d like to spend our time, but kids just adapt to space around them like it’s not a big deal.

I’m not gonna lie to – I am domestically challenged and not particularly ashamed of that. But hearing “This is chaos!” from my three-year-old niece (!) was harsh.

Now, generally speaking, my apartment is pretty neat. It’s quite empty, truth be told, which is helpful. Also, I knew I wasn’t the best house-keeper ever, so I did everything I could during our home renovation to adapt the space to my poor skills.

Designing a home to the last detail is a tricky decision – regardless of whether you’re designing your own home or home for a client.

Although we love to see all the amazingly designed apartments (some of which we featured here), we are fully aware of the fact that the amount of money and period of time invested in those homes, most of us can’t afford.

Even though it would be nice to have perfectly designed shelves or an entire wall covered with fitted closet which is a breeze to organize, the truth is – those types of units probably wouldn’t have a significant impact to the quality of your everyday life.

If you follow us for a while now, you might have noticed we think of home renovation as a tool for improving everyday life. And it is possible to do that with fitted furniture, you just have to choose wisely where to invest. Continue reading “Three rooms for fitted furniture”→

It is stressful. And it’s not stressful because it’s hard to combine different types of tiles or choose a perfect armchair. It’s stressful because you’re about to spend a significant amount of money – maybe even loaned money. It’s stressful because you’re about to sacrifice a lot of your time – and by that, we mean free time you’re used to spending resting or having fun. And it’s stressful because it usually involves a lot of people.

Now, you get to choose how much money you’re willing to spend. You also get to choose how much time you’ll dedicate to this project. But people?

Not sure that can be done. But how to make a small apartment feel spacious?

Well, that’s a whole other thing.

Now, here’s the harsh truth: just because you live in a small space does not mean you have any less stuff than anyone else.

So the usual scenario is filling up space with closets, cabinets, sofas with storage space, beds with drawers… just to provide as much storage space as possible. But more storage space inventible results with no empty space. While actually, the empty space is what you need.

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ABOUT US

We are Tina and Petra, two aunts, architects and blog partners at upgradesign.blog.
Our mission is to provide simple, useful and inspirational tips to help you design functional, clutter-free and beautiful personal space.